Danish Monarch. He reigned as King of Denmark from 1154 to 1182. The grandchild of King Erik I of Denmark, his parents were Duke Sct. Knud Lavard and Duchess Ingeborg of Russia. His father was murdered a few months after his birth and he was brought up in the noble Hvide-family together with his later companion Archbishop Absalon of Lund and Roskilde. In 1154 he was made Co-king of the kings Svend III and Knud III. The 3 kings ruled different parts of the country, which was divided by civil-war. His co-kings were out maneuvered and eventually killed in battle. By 1157 he was the sole ruler of the kingdom. Now he and Absalon started a crusade against the pagan Wends, who lived in the Pommerania and Mecklenburg area in Northern Germany. They were defeated and christened by the sword in 1159. Valdemar I was a great church and castle-builder. He raised the Skt. Bendts Church in Ringsted as the burial church for the royal family and as a shrine for the Saintly remains of his murdered father.1157 he married the Russian princess Sofia of Novgorod, and among his 9 children were the Danish kings Knud IV and Valdemar II. His daughter Ingeborg or Isembourg was unhappily married to the French king Philippe II Auguste.
Danish Monarch. He reigned as King of Denmark from 1154 to 1182. The grandchild of King Erik I of Denmark, his parents were Duke Sct. Knud Lavard and Duchess Ingeborg of Russia. His father was murdered a few months after his birth and he was brought up in the noble Hvide-family together with his later companion Archbishop Absalon of Lund and Roskilde. In 1154 he was made Co-king of the kings Svend III and Knud III. The 3 kings ruled different parts of the country, which was divided by civil-war. His co-kings were out maneuvered and eventually killed in battle. By 1157 he was the sole ruler of the kingdom. Now he and Absalon started a crusade against the pagan Wends, who lived in the Pommerania and Mecklenburg area in Northern Germany. They were defeated and christened by the sword in 1159. Valdemar I was a great church and castle-builder. He raised the Skt. Bendts Church in Ringsted as the burial church for the royal family and as a shrine for the Saintly remains of his murdered father.1157 he married the Russian princess Sofia of Novgorod, and among his 9 children were the Danish kings Knud IV and Valdemar II. His daughter Ingeborg or Isembourg was unhappily married to the French king Philippe II Auguste.
Bio by: Benny Chordt Hansen
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